Madison Robots Repeats as Bayonne Meet Champions

BAYONNE, NJ, 3 Nov 2013- Madison High School’s “Mad Science” robotics team defended their championship title at the Bayonne High School and captained the winning alliance to wrest victory from the Westport Ct. Wreckers who were the 2011 World Champions.

In a field of twenty teams Madison was in third place after five rounds of competition, which qualified to lead a three team alliance for the elimination rounds.

The team drivers and field coach were having success all day and the robot was running well, scoring cubes in in one of four crates randomly marked by an infrared beacon, and the robot navigated itself onto a ramp for additional points. In driver-controlled mode the team was able to score more cubes, crank a handle to lift a flag 7 ft high, and have the robot lift and hang itself off the ground by an iron pipe some 3 feet off the playing field.

Madison picked the Westfield Robotics team 5968 and the Cresskill Cougars team 6983 as partners for the playoffs. After winning the first playoff round handily 2 matches to none, the team knew they had a challenge in a best two-out-of-three match against a former world champion Westport in the finals.The Wreckers of Westport picked Westfield Robotics 2, and Mechanical Mayhem of Jersey City.

After two matches the teams were tied 1-1 with Madison still scoring its cube above the infrared beacon and Westport doing the same. In match three Madison’s partner’s robot stop moving and it looked like they would fail to lift the flag. Defeat seemed inevitable. Madison’s Robot still hung on the bar scoring valuable points, but they would not be enough. A review by the head referee revealed a gap between the foam tiles and the wall where Westfield’s wheel was stuck. As this was a field setup error the match was voided and ‘do over’ called. Match four was equally exciting with the cheering crowd unsure of the outcome. The final result was a 176-176 tie. An incredibly rare result in high scoring matches! The teams would go again.

The last match could also have gone either way as both teams scored easily and the score was very close. A penalty assessed to Westport for interfering with Madison’s crate pendulum put the match beyond all doubt.